1 Flesh claims that its members want to reclaim "sexy" by seeking out "awesome marriages and mind-blowing sex lives." The website claims that it wants to see women and men treated with respect, and sex to free of fear and exploitation.

The 1 Flesh website criticizes older generations because "they lost it," succumbing to divorce, STDs, abortion, pornography, sexual objectification, and sexual assault. Seeing social ills such as STDs and sexual violence lumped together with morally neutral acts such as divorce and abortion is revealing, as it says volumes about 1 Flesh's worldview. All of these problems, 1 Flesh insists, are rooted in contraception, which the group blames for everything from unhappy marriages to environmental harm.

"[Contraception] is a dangerous idea. It’s dangerous because artificial contraception is heavily promoted by big pharmaceutical companies — like Bayer Corp. — and contraception providers — like Planned Parenthood. It’s dangerous because it’s not an idea supported by those in power. But most of all, it’s dangerous because it’s true.We found, by looking at the best available analysis from sociology, medicine, philosophy and economics, that the widespread use of artificial contraception has failed to decrease STD prevalence, increased the global rate of HIV, seriously harmed the environment, screwed up relationships, and is strongly correlated with increased divorces, abortions, and unplanned pregnancies. We found that hormonal contraception significantly increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer, cervical cancer, heart disease, and may very well be lowering her sex drive. We found that the safety and effectiveness artificial contraception is often falsely advertised by pharmaceutical companies, and that the health benefits of hormonal contraception are totally exaggerated."

To back up its claims, 1 Flesh makes specious arguments. For example, the website claims that the U.S. divorce rate doubled between 1965 and 1976, the same time that birth control pills became available. Therefore, it concludes, contraception contributed to higher divorce rates, using the correlation-equals-causation fallacy. The fact that social attitudes toward sex, marriage, and reproduction as a whole were changing during that era was not considered. (Post hoc ergo propter hoc, anyone?) Furthermore, the website assumes that divorce is always a negative event, which is not necessarily true.

In another section, 1 Flesh claims that condoms spoil sexual pleasure for couples (all of whom are assumed to be opposite sex). Condoms, they argue, detract from the biological nurturing that takes place during the sex act. Hilariously, 1 Flesh defends condomless sex by claiming that semen provides women with vitamins and nutrients!

"Likewise, condoms prevent the natural, beneficial effect a man has on his partner’s reproductive system. A major cause of female infertility is zinc deficiency. A man’s semen supplies this vital nutrient to his wife, as well as ascorbic acid, blood-group antigens, calcium, chlorine, cholesterol, choline, citric acid, creatine, fructose, glutathione, lactic acid, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sodium, sorbitol, and vitamin B12 — all important to a woman’s reproductive health."

The absurdity doesn't stop there. In a 1 Flesh blog post entitled "9 Reasons Ovulation is Pretty Much Witchcraft," the group claims that women should let their bodies ovulate because it supposedly makes them more beautiful, improves the way they smell, increases their brain matter, and strengthens their gaydar.

Okay, I'm starting to wonder if this is a Poe, I thought.

Unfortunately, 1 Flesh's rhetoric could have devastating consequences for those who have been inundated with misinformation about sexual health. In a commentary piece at Alternet, Amanda Marcotte points out that discouraging women from using contraceptives can have negative consequences in the absence of sexual health knowledge.

"In reality, a sexually active woman who uses no contraception has an 85% chance of getting pregnant within a year. Anti-contraception activists go out of their way to conceal this fact, hoping women feel that their risks of skipping contraception are much lower than they are. It would be laughable if the only audience for this anti-contraception propaganda were folks with good sex education and a solid knowledge of how effective contraception really is. Unfortunately, they’re speaking to a larger audience already rife with misinformation about contraception and fertility; an audience that might not like the anti-sex message, but could be influenced by the anti-contraception one."

In its rush to demonize contraception, 1 Flesh fails to make convincing arguments as to how contraception allegedly leads to sexual objectification, divorce, and a host of unrelated problems. In their rush to generalize all contraception as unhealthy, they ignore the fact that many kinds of contraception exist, each with their own side effects and benefits. To boot, the alternative to using contraception -- repeated unwanted pregnancies and STD transmission -- can lead to far more health problems and psychological stress for women and couples. In their rush to blame contraceptives for environmental harm, they ignore the devastating environmental impact that explosive population growth could (and is) having on the planet. In short, by turning birth control into a bogeyman, 1 Flesh ignores the profound importance for individuals and society as a whole to be able to prevent unwanted pregnancy and disease transmission.

1 Flesh needs a reality check. Despite their promises, abstaining from contraception will not magically make sex and relationships better. That tasks falls to open communication, mutual respect, trust, consent, self-knowledge, sensuality, and creativity. By telling young people that abstaining from contraception leads to stellar sex and romance, I fear that 1 Flesh is setting them up for disappointment ... not to mention unpleasant surprises in the form of unwanted pregnancies and disease.

16 comments:

Oh yeah - contraception is REAL dangerous. It prevents AIDS, syphilis, unwanted pregnancies, and might even *gasp* allow couples to enjoy sex without worrying about popping a million babies that they are too exhausted to take care of.

Two thoughts come to mind: pseudo-science and blanket generalizations.

It's amazing how some people's discourse can sound scientific even thought there is no evidence to back them up. It works, of course, because their audience doesn't need real evidence, since they're hearing exactly what they want to hear.

As for generalizations, they're always wrong. You can only find exceptions and in this case, lots of them.

Lorena -- True. As much as they try to sound scientific, their arguments are deeply flawed. This might not matter to their young target audience because they might not have been exposed to much good science and research.

Well, everyone has been saying for years now that the Right will someday try to roll back contraception. I think a lot of us have been thinking we won that war, when all we really won were the battles. I just hope our side is willing to push back against this anti-contraception stuff.

I tried to comment on the post before this one and received an error (?) so I am going to comment on both at the same time. Both of which peeved me off to no end and made me want to punch people square in the face!

I am sick and tired of the right lying their ever loving asses off and screaming that homosexuality has ANYTHING to do with pedophilia. Abuse is abuse is abuse. As someone who was molested (very briefly, nothing like what these poor boys when through) by a creepy old uncle at the age of 9, I can tell you that it is freaks of nature who touch a child in a sexual manner! One has nothing to do with the other and I truly appreciate your heartfelt posting on this subject. I wish I thought you were preaching to somoene other than the choir!

As far as this post on anti-contraception, can we use the Palins as an example of how nutty you become if you don't use it? My son is now 23. When he was young I answered all of his questions concerning reproduction in a manner that befitted his age and the questions. By the time he was about 10 or 11 though, I started pushing the discussions. I remembered the information I was given by my friends at that age and it was unacceptable (my mom was always forthright and honest though), so I wanted him to have an idea of the real world. He did. And he waited until he was 19 to have sex and he has never had sex without a condom. He has been through abortions with friends and has seen what happens when one has a child at a young age. He is also terrified of STDs. So they can take their anti-contraception ad and shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

Left Leaning Lady -- Well said! Regarding abuse, so many Religious Right voices don't grasp (or care about) the real dynamics of sexual abuse. Their misinformation campaigns do damage to sexual abuse survivors AND the LGBT community.

Regarding contraception, kudos for taking the initiative and teaching your son about sexual health. You've armed him with information to make sound decisions, unlike 1 Flesh.